


so sweet to me, will you be sour later?

by losers-to-lovers (missberryisbest)



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bisexual Disaster Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gen, M/M, Minor Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris, Reddie, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, Tutoring, au no clown, richie tozier is a math whiz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 12:54:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21849967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missberryisbest/pseuds/losers-to-lovers
Summary: Richie Tozier is a math whiz and otherwise all around disaster, and to make up for the disaster portion, he takes up tutoring. It also helps that his guidance counselor got it to count towards some of his never-ending detention hours. The money he's making doesn't hurt, either.Eddie Kaspbrak's mom is crazy, and has kept him out of school so much that he might fail his math class if he doesn't get some help. He's smart, sure, but math isn't a subject he can just know all the answers to. His mom has managed to run off several tutors, and Eddie just hopes this one is clean and polite enough to make even Sonia Kaspbrak pleased.Ha.E.g. Reddie tutoring fic.song that inspired title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7gyPjAjhys
Relationships: Bill Denbrough & Richie Tozier, Bill Denbrough & Stanley Uris, Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris
Comments: 20
Kudos: 94





	1. Chapter 1

Richie Tozier was not a morning person. Which is why he was currently adding about a gallon of sugar to his coffee and swearing very creatively under his breath as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes. 

He wasn’t a quiet person by nature, but he wanted to be sure that his mom couldn’t hear. Not that she’d care, per se, but it might be one of the rare mornings where she (a) was awake before noon, and (b) remembered that she was actually a mom. 

It was bad enough that he had to be awake, shower, and wear jeans that didn’t have holes in them. He did not have the mental capacity to deal with one of her half-hearted attempts at a parenting lecture. 

As often happened, Richie took a gulp of the coffee before it was actually cool enough to drink and burned his tongue. With a muttered “Shit dipped nuggets of dick!” he ran to the freezer for some ice, dumping a handful of cubes into his travel mug, and popping one in his mouth as if it would magically un-burn the roof of his mouth.

It didn’t, and he got brain freeze, but he was already late, so, grabbing his car keys, Richie headed out.

\--

At the insistence of his guidance counselor, and with the dangled reward of  _ ‘this is going to replace your detention hours, Richie, and you’ll also get $5 an hour’ _ he was apparently going to become a tutor. 

Ms. Val said that the job would also look good on his college applications, and since Rich was determined to get the fuck out of Derry as soon as he was legally able to, he had reluctantly accepted the gig.

Apparently, there was some sick kid who missed so much school he was in danger of being held back a year, and the school had finally convinced the boy’s mom to accept help in the form of tutoring. 

This mom was no joke, based on what Bill said, she was pretty much the mother from hell. 

“S-s-she t-t-t-told me th-th-that I was l-l-lucky I was so p-p-p-pretty, it might h-help offset th-the st-st-st-stutter.” Richie’s friend had said at lunch, indignant and red faced, his boyfriend Stan patting his shoulder reassuringly.

So, Richie was the fourth tutor the school would be attempting to send, and the first that they were bribing with actual money.

Now it was a Saturday, and he was wearing a (mostly) clean shirt and his best pair of jeans, awake at the crack of eight a.m. 

After pulling out of his driveway, Richie cranked his music up and drummed out a beat on his steering wheel as he drove across town. 

He was prepared to deal with a literal fire breathing dragon gremlin in the form of this mom if it meant he could start saving up some money. 

Well, he thought he was prepared, but no one can truly be prepared for Mrs Kaspbrak.

\--

Eddie was having a really shitty week, after a really shitty month, in what he was certain was a record breakingly shitty year. 

His mom’s overbearing tendencies had skyrocketed after his 16th birthday, and he felt like he was powerless to fight back when she kept pulling him out of classes because he was too flushed, or too pale, or too warm, or too cold… It was like she was determined to stop him from graduating on time as a way to keep him home. 

Who was he kidding? That was clearly what her goal was. It wouldn’t have been that big of a problem if his stupid math class wasn’t kicking his ass. It wasn’t that he wasn’t smart, but with math he needed someone to show him how to work through the problems, it wasn’t nearly as intuitive as English or Psychology, so it was a lot harder to stay on top of with his frequent absences.

He’d hounded his mom for weeks until she agreed to get him a tutor, but she retaliated by being the absolute worst version of herself, and had scared off three of his peers already. 

The first kid? She insulted his stutter, making Eddie want to melt through the floor. 

The second one was scared off by all of her glares and sighs every time the poor girl coughed or sneezed. 

Eddie didn’t know what happened with the third teen, he just heard crying and the door slamming, and buried his face in his hands. 

Ben had lasted longer than the other two, and Eddie was finally getting more of the concepts, they even bonded over comic books and music. So Eddie’s ma must have done something truly awful to make him leave without even saying goodbye.

Drinking some fresh orange juice and taking his morning meds, Eddie just hoped that the next student, due to arrive any minute, would be clean and polite enough that Ma would have nothing to complain about.

Ha.

\--

Richie stumbled up the porch steps towards the door, and was just about to knock when he realized he had forgotten his copy of the math textbook at home. 

“Goddamn it to shit fuck!” He hissed, adjusting his glasses and glancing back at his beat up truck, debating if he should go home and get it. Deciding it was better to be late and prepared than on time and missing something as essential as the  _ goddamn textbook _ , Richie turned around. He was so caught up in his own head that he didn’t hear the door open behind him.

“Ladies and gentleman, we have before you… a complete fucking idiot!!!” He drawled in one of his most popular Voices, that of a TV game show host, as he started back down the stairs.

“Well, I’m so glad you are here to tutor my son then,” a voice behind him sniffed. Richie froze.

_ Fuck _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing these characters, so please bear with me as I get their personalities right!!

Mrs. Kaspbrak loved her son, she really did, and she only wanted the best for him. Looking at the gangly youth currently gaping at her from the bottom step of her perfectly maintained porch, his eyes magnified by the giant glasses that were slipping down his nose, she knew immediately that this kid was not it.

“Hiyah Mrs. K!” the kid said brightly, bounding back up the stairs and apparently thinking that she was going to just forget how he had sworn a moment before. “I’m Richie, and I’m here to help your son Eddie with his math homework!”

“Hmm,” she said, trying to look down her nose at him, but failing as he was at least two inches taller than she was. It didn’t help that he wouldn’t stop smiling at her.

“If you’re here to help him why were you getting back in your car?” she asked, her voice cold.

His smile faltered for a second, but then was back in place. 

“Well, ah, you see….” He rubbed a hand at the back of his neck and Sonia shuddered internally at the thought of how dirty that neck probably was. She didn’t want it anywhere near her precious Eddie-Bear. 

“I was so anxious to get here on time I forgot my textbook at home,” he finally admitted. “I was gonna run back home and grab it.”

“And rather than let us know that,” Sonia said, “you were just going to leave us waiting on your return, showing up late, and inconveniencing both me and my son?”

\--

Richie realized in this moment why both Bill and Ben had given up and left Eddie to his own devices. This lady had an air about her that made you want to shrink down until she couldn’t see you anymore. 

But Richie wouldn’t let anyone make him small anymore. He’d just grow even bigger, he decided.

“I just wanted to be my most prepared,” he said, shoving his hand in her face, “but it’s a-ok, I’m sure he has a book of his own, and next week I’ll make sure I bring my copy.”

“You’re not to swear around my Eddie-Bear,” Sonia said, making a face at his outstretched hand and moving to the side to allow Richie to come in. “He doesn’t need any bad influences.”

“Sure thing, chicken wing!” Richie chirped, entering the house and kicking off his shoes. “Where’s the man of the hour?” he asked, looking around the living room as he bounded on in.

“Edward!” Mrs. K said, turning down the hallway, and as he took his jacket off, Richie heard a mumbled reply through the thick fabric of his coat.

“Your…. Tutor is here.” She said, spitting out the word as though it tasted like vinegar. She sent a glare at the tall teen and purposefully stepped forward and straightened his shoes and put them on a mat that Richie hadn’t noticed.

Richie heard steps coming toward him, and straightened. He was doing his best not to act like it, but he had never done this before and he was a bit nervous.

Then Eddie came around the corner, and suddenly Richie was a lot nervous. And his mouth went completely dry.

 _Pretty boy,_ he thought, his brain flatlining, only able to repeat those two words, _pretty_ **_pretty_ ** _boy._

\--

Eddie saw his new tutor, and he stifled a groan. Curly hair that wouldn’t submit to a brush? Check. Glasses that were taped together in the center? Check. Socks that had…. Multiple holes in them?!?! Check. A hawaiian print t-shirt over a graphic tee that said ‘The Game’? Yep.

The universe was against him.

 _Richie Tozier?!?!_ He thought. _They sent me Trashmouth? This school hates me, it really hates me._

Richie and Eddie had been in the same grade since middle school, and while they shared classes, they never really talked. Well, Eddie never really talked, he was pretty sure that Richie couldn’t be silent for more than two minutes even if you paid him.

But, contrary to this theory, Richie was currently just standing there, quietly staring with his mouth open.

Eddie’s hands unconsciously went to his hair, but no, he had slicked every strand into place, just like he did every day. He shifted from foot to foot, and worried that maybe his comfy sweater had a stain on the soft pink cashmere. 

He saw Richie gulp, and shake his head, as though clearing his brain, which made absolutely no sense, except that maybe it would serve to rattle around the single marble Eddie would admit that it contained. 

“Heyo Edward!” Richie said, walking forward, and shoving his hand out. “I’m Richie Tozier, and I’m here to rescue you from the hellish world that would be repeating Trigonometry.”

“I know who you are,” Eddie said, scowling, “we’ve been in the same class since the 6th grade.”

Looking behind the tall youth, Eddie saw his mom give a smug smile, he could almost see her writing Richie off as yet another failure, and suddenly he remembered why this was important, and completely changed his facial expression.

“But please,” He said, trying to sound cordial, and smiling while internally grinding his teeth, “won’t you come in?” He gestured towards his bedroom, where they would be doing their studying.

\--

Richie followed behind Eddie until they got into what appeared to be the shorter teen’s room, and then he tilted his head to the side, adjusted his glasses, and squinted. _Oh shit,_ he thought. _I do know this kid, but when did he get so damn cute?_ Richie shrugged internally, and made a decision. _Time to turn on the charm._

“Why I do declare,” Richie drawled, going for his southern gentleman Voice, “if it isn’t Eddie Spaghetti.” 


	3. Chapter 3

Eddie groaned internally, and shot a glare at Richie that made the curly-haired boy just grin even larger. He had forgotten that Richie nicknamed everyone. As he had not spent time alone with Richie before, he had made it sixteen years without getting his own personal moniker. Apparently he was pasta.

_ Maybe if I pretend it doesn’t bother me, he’ll let it die _ , Eddie thought, even as his mouth started moving without permission from his brain.    
“That is  _ not _ my fucking name.” Eddie grumbled. 

Richie laughed, shocked, and Eddie wasn’t quite sure why it made his stomach feel like it was tied in knots.

“Here your mom told me I couldn’t swear around you, and there you go, dropping an f bomb like nobody’s fucking business, Eds!” Richie said, clapping his hands and dropping down onto Eddie’s bed.

“Don’t call me Eds,” Eddie said, ignoring the other part of his statement. 

“My name is Eddie. Surely you can manage to say that, it’s two damn syllables. Ed-Die.” He made sure to slowly pronounce the name.

“Well, Ed-Die,” Richie said, mimicking the smaller boy’s pronunciation, “why don’t you take a seat in my office and we can spend some time getting to know each other.” He patted the bed next to him and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

Eddie could feel himself flushing, all the way up to his ears. 

“We are  _ not _ sitting on my bed to do this,” he hissed, stomping over to the desk and sitting in one of his two chairs. 

“Do you have any idea how bad that is for your posture? We will sit in  _ chairs _ at this  _ flat surface _ .”

“Oooooooookay,” Richie said, getting up and strolling over, before plopping into the other chair with the most ridiculously sprawled posture. 

“You got the textbook?” Richie asked, reaching across the desk for a pencil.

“Yes,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes. “That would be the book  _ sitting right in front of you _ , you know, the one that has ‘Trigonometry’ written on the cover.”

“Neato!” Richie said, grabbing it and flipping through the pages. “You ready for me to rock your world?”

“I’m ready for you to start actually tutoring me,” Eddie said, grabbing his notebook and flipping to a blank page.

“Well, where did you leave off?” Richie asked, adjusting his glasses and looking slightly more serious. “This entire book is my bitch, so we can start anywhere.”

\--

_ I’m not completely shit at this,  _ Richie realized with not a small amount of surprise. 

He’d been sitting with Eddie for over an hour, and they were tits deep in the book. 

Eddie was currently scowling in concentration and biting his lip as he worked through a couple practice questions.

_ I should get bonus points for not reaching over and pinching his cheek, _ Richie thought, shoving his hands further into his pockets to help quench his desire to reach out.  _ It’s against the law to be that cute. _

Richie was really confused, he was expecting to come to the house and be working with a coughing wretch, someone too sick to get out of bed. But Eddie looked fine.

_ Maybe it is one of those invisible illnesses _ , Richie thought _.  _ He decided it would be rude to ask.

“Hell yeah!” Eddie said, suddenly, his face lighting up in a grin that made Richie’s brain stall out. Eddie turned and faced Richie.

“Check my work,” Eddie demanded. “Check it, check it, check it right fucking now.” 

His legs were swinging excitedly from his chair, and Richie managed to tear his eyes away from the smaller boy’s face to look at the math.

“Hell yeah!” Richie echoed, scanning over the problems. “You got them all right!”

Richie held his hand out. 

“High five to me for being such a brilliant tutor!” Richie said.

Eddie just looked at him.

“High five to you for being such a brilliant learner?” Richie asked, wiggling his fingers.

Eddie laughed, and reaching out, gave Richie a slap on the hand.

\--

Richie’s palm tingled for the rest of the lesson and it wasn’t until several hours after Richie left that Eddie realized he hadn’t made the taller boy wash his hands or use sanitizer before touching him.


End file.
